Seth Godin on Doing Your Work on Purpose - The Stoic Creative Live Broadcast

14 Sept 2017 · 1 min

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1:08

Seth Godin argues that meaningful change requires deliberate intent, not accident. He contrasts amateurs who do the minimum with professionals who actively shape outcomes. A receptionist at an orthopedic surgeon's office can become a placebo effect by greeting patients warmly and fostering hope, which actually improves surgical outcomes.

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So between the two rocks of failure and success, we have a shot at actually making something, but we're not going to find it by mistake. It's not an accident. We ought to be willing to care enough to say it on purpose, to say, "Yes, I'm trying to make this change from this to this," and I'm amazed at how many people who call themselves professionals are unable to do that. I'll give you the tiniest little example. If you're the receptionist at an orthopedic surgeon's office, what is the change you seek to make? Well, if you're a bad one, a lousy one, an amateur one, you say, my job is with the least amount of effort to make people go away. If you, on the other hand, are a professional, you might say, well, I'm the placebo effect in this building. I'm the person who looks other people in the eye, who makes them feel welcome, who gives them the hope and belief that maybe, just maybe, they came to the right doctor and she's going to help make them actually better. That there is plenty of evidence that surgery goes better if you like the receptionist. That's me. I get to be that professional. I'm going to do it on purpose.